After the Fall

by Janean Worth

  Chapter Eight

  When the first rays of sunshine speared through the trees, Kara gratefully climbed down from her perch in the massive tree. The climb down was not nearly as hard as the climb up had been, and she reached the bottom in short order.

  The ground at the base of the tree was littered with the remnants of both of the meals that had taken place there only hours before, and Kara carefully skirted the blood and gore, being careful not to step on any of it. Just the thought of doing so made her shudder. When she saw the bits of bright rust-colored fur, she averted her eyes and tried not to relive the horror of the creature’s death.

  As she passed by the giant oak with the hole in the trunk, she heard a soft mewling sound. Curiosity warred with caution, and she stopped and stood near the tree, indecisive. She should move on. Although the piteous mewling from inside the tree indicated a creature in need of help, she could not be sure that the creature was as harmless as it sounded.

  A second mewling cry came from the hole, and pity helped her decide. She stepped nearer to the hole and crouched down, carefully peering inside.

  A tiny orange kit lay deep inside, looking up at her trustingly from soft brown eyes. Kara’s heart squeezed with pity again. The poor creature had lost its mother last night. How would it ever survive?

  The kit climbed to its feet, tottering closer to her on unsteady paws.

  She knew how the poor thing felt. Since she’d lost her own mother, she felt completely off-balance and alone in the world. Looking at the poor animal, she immediately felt a kinship with it.

  The young fox climbed nearly out of the hole in the tree, it’s dainty black nose sniffing at her as she crouched silently before it. As it crept closer, delicate nose twitching as it caught her scent, Kara decided that she would do all that she could to help it survive.

  She let the kit creep closer, and crouched silently as it sniffed her cautiously. When it became brave enough to touch her with its damp nose, she slowly put out a hand and lightly stroked the soft fur along the animal’s flank.

  The fox twitched at the contact, but it did not back away. In fact, it came closer.

  Kara moved her hand closer to the kit’s face, and when the animal did not balk, she gently rubbed its tiny face. The fox appeared to enjoy the attention.

  In an effort to let the kit get to know her scent, Kara crouched before the tree for the next several minutes, wasting precious time that she could have been searching for water. When she felt that she could wait no longer, she careful reached out to pick the animal up, surprised when the kit did not resist or attempt to bite her.

  Kara felt a smile soften her lips for the first time in days. The fox’s slight weight felt good in her hands, its silky fur warm against her fingers, and with its trusting brown eyes gazing up at her, she felt hope that perhaps the wilderness was not a completely bad place after all.

  “There’s a good fox,” she crooned to the kit, enjoying the way the tiny animal cocked its head to look at her upon hearing the sound of her voice.

  “We’ve got to find water, and food, before nightfall. We’d best be on our way,” Kara drew the fox closer to her chest, holding the small animal securely so that she had no fear of dropping it as she trekked through the forest, and set off in a direction chosen completely at random.

  She was fairly certain that she was moving in the opposite direction of which she’d come, but she wasn’t completely sure.

  Stroking the fox’s soft fur absently, she tried to ignore the thirst that pounded in her head and dried the tissues of her throat and mouth painfully. She’d never been so thirsty in her entire life. As hard as her life had become after her father’s mysterious death, she’d never once lacked water.

  In GateWide, there were several wells that were freely available to all. The water had never been rationed, and Kara had never had to go without it. They’d always had plenty, and it had been her duty to draw the water from the well and cart it home each morning before she went to Mrs. Malmont’s house. Now, as she wandered through the forest, she wondered if it were possible to somehow dig a well herself.

  The wells that served the city had been very deep. She knew this because of the length of time it took to haul the bucket back up on its long rope once it had been filled with water. Thinking about how deep the well she’d always used must have been, Kara quickly discarded the idea of getting water by digging her own well. Without the tools to do so, there was simply no way to dig a well of her own. She’d have to find a natural aboveground source of water.

  Hours passed as she traipsed through the forest looking for water. The kit did not object to being held for so long. The tiny fox simply curled into the crook of her elbow and fell asleep. If her need for water had not been so serious, Kara would have laughed at the fox’s ability to be so at ease in her presence. As it was, the tiny fox only made her realize how badly she needed to find water. The fox, too, would need water to survive. And its tiny size meant that it would not be able to go as long without water as she, herself, had. It’s mother had probably provided milk, instead of water, but the results would be the same if the kit did not have some form of liquid to ingest. Dehydration.

  Just when she thought that she would surely die of thirst, Kara realized that just ahead of her there seemed to be a line of incredibly lush plant growth. The growth was markedly different than the plants further off, taller, hardier and much healthier looking. She’d learned in her experience with tending Mrs. Malmont’s garden plants that this most likely meant that there must be a source of water near the plants to promote such lush growth. In Mrs. Malmont’s garden, Kara had been required to make sure that the lady’s roses always received a copious amount of water, so that their foliage and blooms would always appear lush and beautiful. It had been hard to haul enough water to keep the roses thriving. Looking at the long line of lush growth ahead, Kara imagined how much water it would take create such healthy growth, and she smiled. It would take a lot of water.

  With hope lightening her step, Kara marched ahead briskly, listening hard for any sound of moving water. She fought her way through the thick undergrowth that grew beneath the towering, well-watered trees, and to her relief, she found a river on the other side.

  The sight was so welcome that Kara felt tears of relief form in her eyes. She knelt beside the river, carefully setting the fox kit down next to her so that it could drink as well.

  With cupped hands, she quickly brought the water to her lips, and the first sip was like ambrosia upon her tongue.